


Tower Trouble

by Holly_Pocket



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Time Loop, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-09-28 21:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20432834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holly_Pocket/pseuds/Holly_Pocket
Summary: The gang experience a bit of trouble taking out Glory in season 5.





	1. No Place Like...

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I just started on AO3 and I'm bringing over all my fics from Fanfiction.net.  
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

**Chapter One**

**No Place Like** **…**

They had won. The portal was closed. Glory/Ben was dead. The world was saved, again.

They had lost. The portal had opened, allowing Hell to bleed into their world. Buffy jumped to close the portal. Buffy died to save the world.

***

“Where am I? What is going on?” Buffy’s voice held an edge of panic.

“No need to fret luv,” a soft, accented voice came through the nearly blinding whiteness. “You are safe. You can rest now.”

Soon Buffy could make out the fuzzy outline of a person. As the outline became clearer the brightness of the surrounding space dimmed until Buffy could clearly see a woman standing in front of her. “Who are you? Where am I?” Buffy could sense the woman was right, where ever she was, she was safe. Suddenly Buffy had a flash of a memory. _‘Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles … tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I’m okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world … is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me.’_ “I died,” her voice was small.

She heard her mothers comforting voice, “yes baby,” and a hand settled on her shoulder. “I am so proud of you Buffy. Dying for Dawn secured your place here.” Her mother pulled her into a warm embrace. “Can you believe they had doubts,” she chuckled.

“They should have known better,” the womans voice from before was filled with mirth now.

“Too true Ann,” Joyce turned to her friend. “You must be proud too. Your boy has made some very selfless choices lately.”

Ann smiled softly, “yes, my William has finally found his true path.” She turned to Buffy, “the promise he made to you should keep him on it, even without you there to guide him.”

Buffy stared at the woman, noting the strong cheekbones and blue eyes she had only seen on one other person. “Are you talking about Spike?”


	2. About who?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter

**Chapter 1 Part 2**

**About Who?**

“Seriously?” she was breathless from laughing. “I can not see him doing that.”

Ann was nodding her head, chuckling at the memory of a six year old William. “He was such an adorable child, so affectionate.” Ann sobered, “he was always taking care of me. I know it must have been a burden for him, especially after his father and baby sister died. He was so sensitive.” Ann’s eyes grew misty, “I know that is why he did what he did that night. I just wish he would not blame himself for how it all turned out.”

Joyce watched quietly as Buffy calmed herself. “What did he do?” she asked, not with malice but curiosity. She had come to adore the woman sitting before her and she had gained a better understanding of Spike from her stories.

“I was very sick, dying as a matter of fact; I probably would not have had much more time on earth. It was not unusual back then, we understood very little about bacteria and viruses, and Tuberculosis was a very real threat.” She paused to compose herself. “He had been gone for a few days and I was beginning to fear the worst, but then he came home. He had a beautiful woman with him, she made me uneasy but my William was obviously enamored of her. He told me he had found a way to make me better. Rambled on about me never growing any older and never getting sick again. I remember there was a great deal of pain for a moment, but then I was here, in Heaven, and everything was warm and peaceful. After a while I learned that my soul had been pushed from my body to make way for the demon, to make a vampire.” Buffy wiped a tear a tear from the older woman’s cheek. “Much later I learned that my poor William was forced to destroy the creature he had made. I know that must have been hard for him. I just wish I could tell him that I did not suffer.”

Joyce broke her silence while pulling the woman into a hug. “One day he will know. We will find a way to tell him.”


	3. Into Battle...

**Into Battle…**

Her head was pounding.

"…ffy? Buffy! What is wrong?"

Someone was calling her name. She cracked open one eye, then squeezed it shut again. ‘Why is it so bright?’

"Buffy, come on. We need to get moving. We need to rescue Dawn."

‘Dawn is in trouble? Again? Did I not just save her from Glory?’ someone was tugging on her arm. ‘I did save her right?’ she shook her head, trying to think. She remembered going to the tower made by crazy people. She remembered fighting glory and knocking her out with the troll hammer. Then she was at the top and there was Dawn, safe as houses, tied to the railing at the end of a plank, so she was not as safe as houses. There was a man. Demon? He was holding a knife. He was saying something, going on and on, standing between her and Dawn and so she pushed him off the tower. She could see Dawn clearly now. Could see that Dawn was crying and holding a hand to her stomach. Dawn told her that it was too late, her blood had started to flow. Buffy’s eyes flew open. She had saved Dawn. Saved her by sacrificing herself. She had saved Dawn, and the world, by jumping from the tower into the portal.

"Xander, what is taking so long?" Giles stuck his head around the door frame. "Glory will begin the ceremony soon. If we do not hurry we may not be able to stop her in time."

Xander pulled on his friends arm again, not understanding what had happened to her. Buffy had gone ahead of the group to get weapons but when he caught up she was just sitting there, not moving. "Buf, you heard G-man, we need to hurry." Xand scooped up the weapons laying next to his friend and led her from the room.

‘But I already did this,’ Buffy yelled in her head. ‘I saved Dawn and the world. I was in heaven. I could finally rest.’

Xander reached where the rest of the Scoobies were gathered with Buffy in tow and Giles jumped right in. "Buffy, what is the plan?"

She wanted to scream at them all. Tell them this was not real. That they had already been here, done this. Instead she took a deep breath and launched into a battle plan. Whether this was real or not, if Dawn was in trouble, Buffy would save her.


	4. Not Again

Not Again

‘We did it! I can not believe we really did it.’ Buffy turned to her friends with a huge grin. "Anyone up for pizza and a movie?" it took her a moment to notice their long faces and sad eyes. Following her friends tear filled gaze she saw… herself. ‘Just great. I am dead. Again.’ The Scoobies quietly gathered themselves, with Xander carefully lifting Buffy’s broken body into his arms, and made their way to Giles’ and Xanders’ cars. Buffy watched as Tara lead a crying Dawn away. Willow was walking just behind them, her eyes on the ground. Giles and Anya walked side by side ahead of Xander. Giles was lost in the grief of losing not just his Slayer but the girl he had come to see as a daughter. Anya struggled to come to terms with her feelings of loss and anger. Spike was, ‘wait where is Spike?’ Buffy’s eyes swept the ground around the base of the tower but she found no sign of Spike. It was close to dawn and she was worried for him. She bagan to slowly walk the tower, her eyes alert for any sign of movement. She was looking up into the lower levels of the unstable structure when she caught a slight movement from several feet away. Rushing over she saw Spike struggling to push himself upright. She knew Spike could feel the sun rising and she encouraged him to find the strength to reach cover, ‘I am gone Spike. It will be up to you to keep Dawn safe. You promised.’Buffy sighed in relief as he finally managed to get to his feet. She could tell his injuries were servere but his car was not far. If he could make it to his car he could get home in time to avoid being dust. She watched as he stumbled away from the building site towards his old Desoto. It was a minute before she heard the engine turn over and he pulled away, heading for his crypt. Buffy had been taken aback by the extent of his injuries, ‘if he had not been dead already he probably would have died.’ After Spikes’ car was out of sight she started thinking about her own situation. ‘Why am I here? What happened to Heaven?’ The thought of Heaven had her remembering what had transpired to get her there. ‘It is weird having two sets of memories for the same event.’ The realization of having multiple memories of the same thing brought to mind more questions. ‘How did time reverse? WHY did time reverse? Why did I not go to heaven again? What is going on?’

The sun had risen as she stood there contemplating these new questions and gaining no answers. After spending time in Heaven with Ann, learning about William, Buffy found herself curious about Spike and what he might be doing at that moment. What his ‘daily’ life… unlife might be like. Just the thought, ‘I wonder what Spike is doing,’ was enough for her to pop into his crypt. ‘Wow,’ she thought looking around, ‘that was trippy.’ She did not see Spike on the upper level of his crypt so she wandered over to the hole in a back corner that led to the lower level. Ignoring the ladder, she dropped down and almost swallowed her tounge. Spike was standing in a small, obviously jerry rigged, shower washing the dried blood off his body; his incredibly well defined body. ‘I never knew just how yummy he was under all that leather.’ Buffy was glued to the spot, staring as Spike’s muscles bunched and relaxed as he stretched and twisted under the running water. Once the water ran clear he turned it off before stumbling over to his bed. He downed a cup of blood sitting on a low table then fell face first onto the bed, already half asleep. Buffy moved closer to him, taking in the slowly healing cuts and abrasions on his back. "I am sorry," she reached her hand out to him, stopping just before actually touching him. "I wish things had gone differently. You deserve a rest, if only for a little while. Dawn is going to need you." Mentioning Dawn had her thinking about how her sister and the Scoobies were doing, and with that she was home.

The living room was empty, as was the dinning room and kitchen. Moving up the stairs Buffy found Dawn asleep in her bed, still crying. Buffy’s bedroom door was closed tight as though nobody could face it, so she continued down the hall. She found Tara alone in her bed. The sweet woman had obviously cried herself to sleep and Buffy could not help but wonder, ‘where is Willow?’ Another shift and Buffy was looking at Willow and Xander in Giles’ living room.

"What are we suppose to do now?" Willow practically wailed. "Yeah Glory is gone and Dawn is safe, but Buffy is dead. Sunnydale does not have s Slayer any more."

‘Why can these two not leave me in peace?’ Giles kept his voice calm despite his annoyance at the two in front of him. "We will figure out a way to keep Sunnydale safe, it is what Buffy would want us to do. Right now we need to put Buffy to rest and grieve. The rest will keep."

Will and Xand did not like that, it was written all over their faces, but they managed to keep quiet and left the older man to himself.

A week later Spike was back on his feet. On his first trip to the Summer’s house he was furious. The place was filthy; dirty dishes filled the sink, the trash was overflowing onto the floor, there was no edible food in the fridge, and dirty clothes littered the stairs to the basement. Buffy watched as Spike’s hands clenched into fists. "It is not fair that you have to deal with this," she told the unaware vamp. "This is not even the worst of what is going on. If only you knew what Willow was planning." Buffy was surprised when Spike suddenly started talking to her.

"Buffy, I know they are your friends but this is absolutely ridiculous. Although I suppose I should not have expected any better from that lot." Spike sighed. "It was always you who cleaned up after them, never letting them deal with their own messes, and they never even realized it. Or if they did they never thanked you." As he talked Spike began cleaning up. Stacking the dirty dishes at the side of the sink and running dish water. "You know your mum would not like the house to be such a mess." He tied the trash bag shut, placed the full bag beside the back door, and put a new bag in the trash can. "As tempted as I am to leave this as is and let them finally deal with their own mess your mum deserves better. You deserve better." After scraping plates and bowls into the trash he put everything into the water to soak. Then he set about collecting laundry to start a load.

Watching his actions, first from the kitchen island then from the bottom step of the basement stairs, Buffy could not help herself, "I never would have guessed you, The Big Bad, could be so domestic." She smiled as he continued his work completely oblivious to her presence.

When the house was once again ship shape Buffy followed Spike to the market. By the time the duo got back night and fully fallen.

Coming through the front door they heard Tara call out, "Dawnie?" When she came around the corner she saw Spike. "Oh, Spike, is Dawnie with you?"

Buffy was livid, not that it did any good. "I am so glad I made you promise to take care of Dawn." She ranted to her oblivious audience. "If I had left it up to me friends she would probably be dead, or worse, in foster care." She blew out a breath, thinking about everything that had happened over the last couple of months. Giles had left, going back to England, the day after her funeral. Anya was busy running the Magic Box, which was probably for the best considering it was one of the few things she was good at. Tara had taken on a heavy course load at school, and she did try to keep the freezer stocked with pre-made/re-heatable meals. Xander and Willow were the worst of the group. Xander had cut his hours at work to almost the bare minimum, and Willow was only taking 2 classes this semester. They both had tons of free time but instead of helping out at the house they were trying to figure out how to reserect her. While the thought of bringing brought back from the dead did not upset her too much she could not help but wonder if they had tried this the first time too, when she had been in Heaven. ‘Is that why I did not go to Heaven this time? Did they rip me from the warmth and comfort of Heaven and now I can never go back?’ These thoughts did nothing but piss her off and it was only made worse by her ‘friends’ actions. It had been almost five months it was a toss up as to who they treated worse Dawn or Spike. They insulted and berated Spike, and they ignored Dawn, not speaking a single word to her.

For his part Spike put on a brave face for Dawn. The truth was he was running himself ragged, and Buffy could only sit by and watch. Between taking care of Dawn and the house, which meant getting a job to pay the bills because no one else was doing it, he was patrolling. This was a task that had recently become more important. A couple weeks into the fourth month after Buffy had died, a rumor got out that the Slayer was dead and the demons had flocked to Sunnydale.

On this particular night (day 147) Buffy sat on a headstone watching the fight with trepidation. Spike barely managed to avoid getting staked as he killed yet another demon. Finally the cemetery was clear of demons and vamps and he headed home to his crypt. The sun was just cresting when he burst into his crypt, Buffy going right through the door as he slammed it behind him. She watched as he grabbed a bag of blood from his little fridge and drank it cold, then grabbed a second before heading for the lower level. He stripped off his clothes, finished the second bag and fell into bed for a couple hours of, hopefully uninterrupted, sleep. Buffy had figured out early on that he suffered from nightmares that made it impossible for him to get any actual rest. She did not know what he actually dreamed about but she imagined it had something to do with her, and she hated it. At least she had found a way to comfort him. Buffy had learned early that she could not touch people, or even things most of the time. She could however lay on the bed next to him, as close as she could without ‘touching’ him, and he seemed to calm down. Tonight as she settled into her place beside him she began to softly sing, "Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I heard a young maid sing in the valley below…"

Elsewhere Willow called Xander, "tonight is the night."


	5. Chapter 5

Help Me!

Buffy’s head was pounding again.

"…ffy? Buffy?" Xander was calling her name.

‘Not again.’ She slowly cracked open an eye.

"Buf, G-man says we need to hurry. Glory could start the ceremony anytime."

She forced herself to move despite the pain, knowing it would begin fading the more she moved. "Grab the weapons for me Xand. I need to talk to Spike." Seeing Spike triggered memories of being ghost Buffy. Remembering how he had taken care of Dawn, and by extension the rest of the Scoobies, had caused her heart to yearn for him. She had learned from Ann of his gentle nature but actually witnessing it was something else. It made her regret all the times she was rude or even down right mean to him. ‘It will be different now. I could not even think about treating him badly. He deserves better than my anger and distrust.’ Spike caught her staring at him and raised a scarred eyebrow. "Spike, can we…"

She was cut off when Giles noticed she had joined them, "Buffy, do we have a plan of action?"

Buffy glared at the man for a moment, thinking of how he had returned to England shortly after her funeral. ‘He should have been here to help take care of Dawn. Him leaving is another small betrayal, even if time did reverse and it has not happened… yet.’ She focused back on the man in front of her, "I need to speak with Spike. I will be able to fill you all in after." Her voice was curt and she quickly turned away from her watcher turned father figure who kept betraying her. "Spike?" Buffy raised her own eyebrow at him and motioned with her head for them to move away from the group. Once they were, more or less, alone she got right to the point. "I have died twice going against this hell god bitch and I am not looking forward to a third time." She searched his face and saw a bit of hesitancy but also a willingness to go with her, give her anything she may need. "I need you to stick close to me. We have to move fast and this hell bitch is not an easy fight. If we both come at her hard maybe we can take her down quicker." Spike gave her a nod of agreement and Buffy turned to the rest of the Scoobies. "Xander, Willow, and Anya, I need you guys to keep the humans and uglies distracted." She looked at the three and waited for their nods. "Giles, keep the bottom of the tower clear. If you get the chance, kill Ben." Her watcher’s nod was decisive. She knew he would not let her down in this and do what needed doing. "Spike, you are with me. We must reach Dawn in time." She looked the group over one last time. "Let’s get going."


	6. Chapter 6

After…Um…Unlife

"…ffy? Buffy? Xander’s concerned voice reached her. "Are you okay? That was quite the fall." His hand cupped her elbow to help her gain her feet.

"What happened?" she asked as she looked around, noting she was not far from Glory’s unstable tower. "Did we win? Where is Dawn?"

"You got knocked off by Glory," Xander chuckled, "so Spike knocked her off. Must of got in a good hit, because when she landed she was Ben. Giles took care of him while Spike continued up this monstrosity." He shielded his eyes and looked up at the sky. "There was this bright, kind of watery, light in the sky then suddenly it was gone." Xander shrugged, "Anya went up just in case they needed any help getting down. They should be showing up any minute now." As if talking about them had summoned them Dawn and Anya appeared on the towers’ lowest platform.

"Dawn!" Buffy rushed forward. "Are you hurt?" she asked after getting a good look at her sisters bloody clothes. "What happened up there? I am sorry I could not get to you." Looking behind the girls at the tower Buffy noticed a distinct lack of bleached hair. "Where is Spike?" She had a sinking feeling as her sister looked up into her face.

"He got there too late." Dawn broke eye contact with Buffy to stare at the ground. "The blood, my blood, was already flowing." She started crying. "I told him I would jump, I would close the portal and save the world. He just shushed me and pulled me into a hug." She looked back up at Buffy before she spoke again. "I always thought it would hurt, being bitten by a vampire, but it didn’t. I hardly felt it at all." Her voice broke, "he drank from me and then he jumped. I could not stop him. It all happened so fast." The younger girl collapsed, sobbing, into Buffy’s arms.

Buffy slowly sank to the ground, desperately holding Dawn to her. Her own tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks. ‘I just realized how important he is to me, to us, and now I have lost him. I didn’t even get the chance to tell him that I cared for him.’ The two sisters cried together, grieving for a man who would never know how much he was needed and loved.

***

"Spike. Slayer of Slayers. William the Bloody." The Voice seemed to echo in his head as well as the space around him. "William Pratt, the man who started it all. Sired by Drucilla the Mad. Youngest Master Vampire in known history. You are, to say the least, a formidable opponent. So tell me what would prompt a monster like you to do something so," The Voice paused, seeming to consider its words, "selfless," it finally decided on, "as to sacrifice yourself for the sister of the Slayer?"

"How could I not?" Spike didn’t even hesitate to ask in return.

It started as a low chuckle and grew into booming laughter. "You shall be rewarded."

Suddenly Spike was hearing multiple voices at once.

"I wish I could tell him that I did not suffer." "I am so sorry. I wish things could have gone differently." "You must be so proud Ann." "I am glad I made you promise to take care of Dawn." "Yes, my William has finally found his path." "Early one morning, just as the sun was rising… I used to sing this to William when he was sick or upset." "I heard a young maid sing in the valley below…" "I love you William." "He is a good man." "I love you Spike." "Thank you."

The voices went on and on, sending Spike to his knees as he heard things he never imagined he would. His mother, Joyce, and Buffy all saying words of comfort and love. He could not believe it was real.

"It is real," The Voice piped in. "They all have actually said these things, and more. The Powers that Be are quite pleased with you. You have willingly, more or less, become the Champion they had expected Angel to be." The Voice let out a low laugh, "they should have known better. I even tried to tell them, but do they want to listen to a lowly messenger? No, gods and goddess forbid they listen to anyone lower than them in the scheme of things." The Voice seemed to realize it was rambling and regained control of itself. "The Powers wish the reward you for everything you have done for their Champion of Light. You will be Her Champion, the way the other could not. What the human scientist had done has already been dealt with, and will no longer impede your actions." The Voice watched in amusement as Spike’s hand went to the back of his head as though searching for a wound. "The Powers have also chosen to restore what was torn asunder on the day you were created, they hope it will help you in your endeavors to help with Her calling."


	7. Chapter 7

Killing Evil

There was no headache this time. She did not need Xander calling out her name, bringing her back to herself. She was fully aware, one moment to the next, of being curled up on her bed sobbing to walking up the stairs to grab weapons from her bedroom. She did however suddenly stop on the stairs before telling xander, who was following behind her, what to get and then rushing back down the stairs. She walked into the living room, eyes searching but not finding, and continued into the kitchen. He was on his knees, head held in his hands, staring at the tiled floor. She breathed a sigh of relief. He was alive.

***

"…ike! Spike! Come one focus." He heard the frantic voice calling his name, but he could not force his eyes to open.

"Slayer?" he mumbled, "head hurts."

"That will go away after a little. Now come on, open those eyes for me."

Suddenly spike wanted nothing more than to look into buffy’s beautiful face. He managed to pry open one eye. Seeing her sunny smile directed at him got his other eye popping open. "Thought I would never see you again."

"Me too. Got so much to say, but it will have to wait."

Spike watched as she stood and held a hand out to him. He did not hesitate to put his hand in hers and let her help him up. "We need to come up with a damn good plan; I can not go through that again."

"Imagine being on my side of things; died twice and then I had to live without you. You are right about one thing though, we need a damn good plan." She had determination in her eyes, "Glory/Ben will die. Dawn, you, and I will all live and be happy. Then we can address other things… personal things."

Spike smirked but knew those personal things included more than just the two of them.

"You know what to do? You remember?"

"Stay close and watch out for demon Doc up top."

"Glad to hear it."

Joining the rest of the Scoobies Spike sat back and listened to his girl give the team their orders.


	8. Chapter 8

Morning After

Glory/Ben was dead. Doc the demon was dead. All the Scoobies had made it through, and in one piece.

Spike had made it up the tower first, but had not reached Dawn. Doc the demon had been waiting for him. Spike managed to disarm the demon and distract him enough to give Buffy time to get up the tower after being knocked off by Glory. Spike took his own fall when, in a moment of distraction, Doc managed to push Spike off the narrow platform.

Now weaponless the demon could not start the blood flowing and was contemplating his options when Buffy reached the makeshift gangplank. He started talking to her, hoping to distract her, instead she gave him a shove much like the one he had given Spike. Buffy did not even pause in her steps on her way to Dawn. She immediately pulled the girl into an awkward hug, before undoing her bonds and helping her down the shaky structure.

Once on the ground Buffy passed Dawn to Giles, the need to find Spike, and make sure he was alive, riding her hard. She vaguely remembered where he had fallen the last time so she started there and lucked out. He was alive but hurt. Definitely not in any state for that talk they had promised each other.

Kneeling beside the injured vampire Buffy looked at the sky before she spoke. "Sun will be coming up soon. We should get you to cover."

Spike squinted at her through half open eyes. "Dawn safe? We win?"

Buffy wrapped her arms around him as he started to struggle upright. "Yeah, we won." They managed to get Spike on his feet and began moving towards the rest of the group. "We can get some rest now."

The gang quietly loaded up the cars, all headed to Revello Drive except the beat up DeSoto. No one looked back as Glory’s tower came crashing down.


	9. Chapter 9

Playing Nurse

Buffy spent her days taking care of Dawn, keeping the house clean, and her friends in line. She was not going to let things go to shit like they had when she had died. Come night though her time was consumed with Spike. He had been very hurt from his fall and she remembered how he had to take care of himself the last time she had died. She was not going to let him be alone again. The first week she made him stay in bed and practically force fed him pigs blood. The next couple weeks she let up a little, gave him a little bit of freedom, but he was still confined to his crypt.

Two months after his fall Spike was allowed to patrol with Buffy. Mostly he stood back and watched her take care of business, he could watch her all night. On the walk back to his crypt he decided to try bringing up some of the unsaid stuff between them. "What happened to you when you died?" It was not exactly smooth but it was something.

Buffy paused in her steps, "I…I went to heaven the first time."

Spike was not as shocked as she thought he would be, "makes sense. All the good you have done. All the people you have saved. Mean, how many times have you saved the world now?" He looked at her with a grin, "you deserve heaven, and it could only be a better place with you in it."

"The second time I didn’t. I thought maybe I had done something wrong." Her voice was hesitant.

Spike shook his head, "not a chance. There must have been something here you needed to see more than whatever was in heaven for you."

Buffy smiled, "you might be right. I saw a lot while I was here, in a kind of limbo I guess." She frowned, "some of what I saw really worried me. I think Willow needs help…with her magic. There was stuff, I could not believe she would even think of contemplating." She looked at Spike wide eyed, "she was going to try bringing me back from the dead. I can not imagine what tapping into that kind of magic would have done to her. And Xander was just at her side, egging her on."

Spike was horrified, "she what?!" he wiped a hand over his face and through his hair. "She never let on."

"She knew you would never have let her." Buffy put her hand on his arm with a small smile, "and I am glad that no matter how bad you were hurting you would not have allowed that to happen."

Spike needed a change in subject before he went off to find the witch. "What was it like in heaven?" he was truly curious.

She smiled, "it was amazing. My mom was there and we just talked the whole time." She was excited suddenly, "there was someone else there. She told me all these fabulous stories. She was an amazing woman Spike. I think you would have really enjoyed talking with her."

Spike was intrigued, "what kind of stories pet?"

"She mostly talked about her son. One of the stories was about a 10 year old boy who got scared one night and instead of risking waking his mother by climbing into bed with her he curled up on the chase lounge at the end of her bed and slept there all night. He seemed like such a sweet little boy." She cocked her head as she looked at him, "do you not agree?"

Spike’s eyes widened as he remembered one of the many times he had done that. "My mum? My mum is in heaven?" he could not believe it.

"Of course she is silly." Buffy smiled at him. "She was not a bad person. Why would she not go to heaven?"

"I turned her. I killed her." Spike could not understand what was happening.

"Spike," she grabbed his face, forcing him to meet her eyes, "her soul was gone before the demon entered her body." She implored him with her eyes to believe her. "That is how it works. She told me that she wished she could tell you that. Wished she could tell you that she did not suffer. There was just a little pain when you first bit her, but then it was like she was floating. Then it was dark and warm and comforting. She was in heaven." She pulled him into a hug. "She heard that you had to kill the creature that had taken over her body. She knew that it would haunt you and she was worried. She did not want you to let it bother you."

Spike could hardly believe what he was hearing. "She didn’t suffer? She is okay?"

"Yes Spike, she is happy and so proud of you." Buffy comforted him.

"Proud of me?" Spike was horrified, "why would she be proud of me? I have killed people. Innocent people. I am not something she should be proud of."

"Spike," Buffy grabbed his arm as he tried to turn away. "Spike, look at me. Listen to me." She finally got him turned to her. "You have been fighting with me for a year. You have not been actively hunting people for two years. Your ‘evil’ is more mischief than anything else." She looked him square in the eye, "Spike you sacrificed yourself for Dawn. Made a decision to give up your life so that she could live. I know I have not said thank you for that, but that was a rough time for me, for us. We both missed you so much. I think I was actually worse than Dawn. I mean I had just figured out how much a cared for you and I never got the chance to tell you. Then spending 147 days without you made me realize that I didn’t just care for you, I had fallen in love with you." Buffy stopped, realizing what she had just said. She looked up at him sheepishly, "I love you Spike. It started with getting to know William through Ann. Then watching you with Dawn, taking care of her and the house, running yourself ragged to handle everything, including things others should have been handling. I was there for every close call and nightmare. I was there Spike and I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that is technically the end of Tower Trouble. I have been stumbling my way through some smutty Spuffy but nothing is clicking just yet. Oh well, if I get it done I'll add it. I hope everyone enjoyed this.  
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me hear them.


End file.
